Tangled Web
by larrytheguitar
Summary: Katie and Cedric have the most complicated relationship humanly possible. And Oliver decides to make things just a little more difficult.
1. A Beginning

_Tangled Web_

Chapter One:

"Diggory is gorgeous, isn't he?" Alicia said quietly, casting a lustful glance towards the Hufflepuff table. "Just look at his eyes. I mean, really, can you find a cuter guy in this school?"

"Yes," I replied, taking a huge bite of wheat toast with orange marmalade. "Ty Davis, the new American exchange student in Ravenclaw. His accent is to die for."

"Not to mention his biceps." Angelina added, looking at the Ravenclaw table.

"Well, thanks for the compliment, Ange, I have been working out." said a Scottish voice, standing behind Angelina. Quickly, the three of us turned around to see Oliver Wood standing behind us, looking absolutely devilish. "I thought I was gaining some muscle, but I didn't know you three had noticed. There is no greater compliment than to know that your three best girl friends are checking you out."

"Sod off, Oliver." Alicia cried, swatting at his arm, "We weren't talking about you. Don't be ridiculous."

Talking about Oliver in any way other than that of a best friend is perhaps the most grotesque thing ever, though it hasn't always been that way. Since we were first years Alicia, Angelina, Oliver and I have been best friends but all three of us girls have gone through a time when we were absolutely infatuated with him. What the fuck were we thinking?

"Kate, you've gained some weight, we better start practice soon or I'm going to have an elephant riding a broom instead of my girl." Oliver said teasingly, as he tried to squeeze onto the bench between Angelina and myself. He didn't seem to notice, or care, that there was plenty of space on the other side of the table.

"You git," I said, pushing him off the bench. "Don't you bloody talk about my weight. It's not my fault that you seem to only be able to date girls that are so thin that you can see through them."

"Speaking of Oliver's ridiculously small girlfriends…" Angelina trailed off.

"Hi girls!" Sasha said, over enthusiastically. "Oliver would you like to walk me to Herbology?" she asked, giving him an obvious wink and smile.

"I would love to." Oliver replied, a wide grin spreading on his face. "We'll be taking the long way, I assume." Sasha just smiled suggestively in reply. "Bye girls." Oliver said, grabbing the toast out of my hands and practically running out of the Great Hall, with Sasha at his heels. It was no secret in Hogwarts that Oliver was a bit of a "sex god" but, really, you think he could be a little less obvious about it. They should have just shagged right here, in the Great Hall. Oh Merlin, I'm going to have to go cast a memory charm on myself; that was an awful mental image.

Angelina sighed in disgust, "He's changed a bit since first year, hasn't he?"

"Yeah," I replied, still shuddering from the thought of Oliver and Sasha together. Ange and I both turned towards Alicia; expecting her to add her thoughts. She was, once again, staring obviously at the Hufflepuff table, and Cedric Diggory, in particular. "Alicia," I said, quietly, trying to break her out of her trance. No response. "Alicia!" I tried again, a bit louder this time.

"Alicia, Diggory's planning on stripping stark naked on the Quidditch pitch in twenty minutes." Angelina said, off-handedly.

"Yes!" Alicia exclaimed her eyes wide with delight, until she saw how hard Angelina was laughing. "Aw shit, don't do that to me." She moaned, tossing a piece of toast at Ange.

"If you like him that much, why don't you just go talk to him?" I asked.

"Well," Alicia began, "I heard that he likes someone and if it's not me, I'd be so embarrassed, I can't just go talk to him."

"Do you want me to talk to him for you?" I asked, feeling like we were in our third year again.

Alicia nodded, looking hopeful, "You'd do that for me, Kate?"

"Of course, Alicia, I would do anything for you."

"Don't get involved." I heard Angelina hiss next to me.

"It'll be fine." I whispered back. I looked up to see if Alicia had heard, but her attention had already returned to Diggory.

* * *

"Hey Diggory!" I called, trying to get Cedric's attention on my way to Herbology.

"Yeah, Kate?" he asked, slowing down and turning around. "What's up?"

"Well, Diggory. I have a friend," I stopped, suddenly struck by how potentially awkward this situation could be, "Well, I have a friend who likes you… a lot. And I said I'd talk to you to see if you felt the same way."

"Oh, really…" he began, looking me straight in the eye, "And who would this friend be?" Wow, he really does have beautiful eyes, green with these gorgeous speckles of blue and gray. "Katie?"

I broke out of my trance, "Alicia." I stammered, "Alicia Spinnet."

Diggory looked surprised, "Alicia? But I thought…" He trailed off and looked at me.

"You thought what?" I asked, perplexed. "My only other friends are Angelina and Oliver. I have no idea what is going on in Ange's head half the time and for some reason I just don't think you're Oliver's type."

"Yeah, I like Alicia. I was thinking about asking her to Hogsmeade, but… there's this other girl…" once again, he trailed off sheepishly.

"So there is another girl!" I exclaimed. "Alicia thought so. Diggory, trust me; Alicia is one of the most wonderful people I know; you'd be a fool not to date her. There is no girl out there that is better than Alicia."

The bell sounded, signaling that we were late for class. Cedric gave me one long look before he started to run towards the greenhouse. "What about you Kate? What about you?"

* * *

What about me? I kept asking myself this question during Herbology. Cedric, with his dazzling eyes, and shy demeanor likes me? I would have thought I had imagined the whole thing, but every time I noticed him looking at me he would bow his head and blush. He _is_ adorable when he's embarrassed.

"So," Alicia whispered. "What did he say?"

"I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet." I replied, in hushed tones.

"But, I saw you talking to him on your way here." She insisted.

Damn, she had seen us. "We were discussing other things. It just," I paused, "Didn't come up?" I bent over and pretended to be tying my shoe. I definitely needed more time to think through this situation.

"Didn't come up!" Alicia exclaimed, incredulously, "What else do you guys have to talk about?"

"Plenty." I replied, shortly, even though we both knew it wasn't true.

Alicia just gave me a long hard look. "Fine, Katie, be that way."

"Ange, we _need_ to talk." I said, as soon as we had exited the greenhouse. Alicia had pushed her way to the front of the queue, and I could barely see her stalking towards the castle. Merlin, she was mad.

"I gathered that." Ange replied, calmly. When would I learn to keep my nose out of everyone's business, like she does?

"Cedric does like Alicia." I began.

Angelina raised her eyebrows, "So, what's the problem?"

"Well, he likes someone else too," I paused. "Me."

Angelina stopped and looked at me surprised. "Diggory likes you _and_ Alicia?" she looked at me and finally said, "Well, do you like him?"

I had never really considered Cedric as a candidate for a boyfriend. But the more I thought about it, the more I concentrated on his beautiful eyes, kind manner, and the respect he shows everyone, the more I realized that he is exactly the sort of guy I have always wanted to date. "Yeah," I finally replied, "I think I do."


	2. Bloody Quidditch

Chapter Two:

"He likes you doesn't he?" Alicia asked, as we got ready for bed that night.

I stared at her, confused. "What?"

"Cedric likes you." Alicia stated, matter-of-factly.

I could tell that she was fighting off tears but knew that lying would do nothing but make the situation worse for both of us. I nodded.

"I thought so." Alicia replied, quietly. "I think I sort of knew all a long." She turned to head to the bathroom.

"Alicia," I said, before she closed the door, "He likes you too."

She quickly turned around, her eyes wide. "Seriously Kate?"

"Yeah." I said, trying to convince myself that I had done the right thing, "Yeah, he does."

Ahuge smile broke out over Alicia's face as she ran to envelope me in a hug. "You are the best friend ever!"

"Thanks," I said, patting her awkwardly on the back. Good thing she didn't know that I had been seriously considering not telling her the truth. "Why don't you go finish getting ready for bed so you're not in the halls after curfew. Oliver would throw a hissy fit if you got detention and missed practice."

Alicia smiled in reply as she exited the room. She paused a second to hold the door open for Angelina and squeal, "Cedric likes me!"

"So, you took the high road?" Angelina asked, as soon as she closed the door.

"Leave me alone." I muttered crossly. "I just fucked over my chances with a really great guy."

"Stop wallowing in your damn self-pity." Angelina stated, looking amused. "Telling Alicia that Cedric likes her doesn't make him like you any less. All you did was even the playing field a little bit."

Angelina did have a point. I still had a chance with Cedric. I still wanted a chance with Cedric. "I do still have a chance!" I exclaimed.

"Still have a chance with what?" Alicia asked, walking back into our dormitory.

"Well…" I stuttered, pausing for time, "I still have a chance at finishing my Potions homework before class tomorrow."

"Katie, we didn't Potions homework and… we don't have class tomorrow." Alicia said, cautiously, casting me a confused look.

"I have some make up work to do tomorrow morning." I replied, quickly,

Alicia looked at me like I was deranged. Which, I possibly (probably?) was. "Night…" she said, crawling into bed and drawing her curtains.

"Good-night." Angelina and I chorused.

* * *

"WAKE UP, MY BEAUTIFUL CHASERS, IT'S TIME FOR PRACTICE!" yelled a Scottish voice, very loudly, very early. 

"Fuck you, Oliver!" Alicia cried back, throwing her pillow at him.

"Get out of bed, you lazy girls!" he bellowed back grabbing Angelina's blankets and yanking them off her bed.

"Damn it, Oliver, it's cold out there," she yelled, attempting to hit him.

"Time for practice, Spinnet. It's already six o'clock and we're starting practice in fifteen minutes." He reached for her blankets and ripped them off of her bed.

I could see Oliver heading for the foot of my bed and there was no way that I was getting woken up in such a rude fashion. "I'm up, I'm up!" I cried, throwing my hands up in surrender.

"At least I have one dedicated girl on this team." Oliver mumbled as he exited the room. "I had _no_ trouble getting Harry up this morning." He shut the door and yelled, "PITCH, FIFTEEN MINUTES, OR WE'RE PRACTICING AN EXTRA HOUR!"

"Shut, the fuck up Oliver." I heard a fifth-year yell.

* * *

"Bloody Oliver. Bloody six o'clock practice. Bloody Quidditch. Bloody cold. Bloody brooms. Bloody tournament." Angelina had been muttering incoherently in this fashion for the last twenty minutes. 

We had arrived at the pitch at 6:20 to find Oliver and Harry flying in warm-up circles, while Fred and George tried to sleep on the wet grass, using bludgers as pillows. "Pretty early in the bloody morning." Fred observed, as he saw us approaching. Angelina just growled in response.

"It's bloody Saturday." She cried, throwing her hands up in disgust. "Saturday!"

"All right, team." Oliver said, landing. "Let's get started."

Practice went pretty well once everyone got their blood flowing again. The twins were feeling particularly rambunctious, and were hitting the bludgers with all their might. Alicia, Angelina and I felt like we were playing the muggle game dodge ball with especially high stakes.

"Katie!" Alicia yelled, dropping me the ball. I caught it and sped towards the goal. Like always, when going for a score, I focused on one thing: scoring. When heading toward the goal the only important things are watching the hoops and being aware of the keeper.

I knew that I could psyche Oliver out. I swerved left, and faked right, throwing Oliver off. I tossed the ball and…

"Oliver?" I asked, looking around. I was lying on the ground, starring up at my team mate's faces. "What the fuck just happened?"

"You were hit by a bludger, Kate." George said, sheepishly.

"You think you can sit up?" Angelina asked, concerned.

I tried tentatively and was met by a splitting head ache. Sadly, on my way down I caught a glance at my leg. "Where exactly did that bludger hit me?"

"Right in the head." Oliver said. "But when you fell…" he paused, "Well, you fucked up your leg pretty badly. Come on, I'll carry you to the infirmary."

Oliver scooped me up in his arms, allowing me to rest my head on his shoulder, while he put his other arm under my butt. "I guess I'm not that heavy after all." I mumbled, sleepily.

"Katie, you can not fall asleep." Oliver said. "You might have really hurt your head… again." I did have a history of concussions, this would be my sixth. "Hey team," Oliver yelled back, "Can you put all the equipment away?"

"You know how many girls would trade anything to be in my place?" I muttered, as Oliver walked up the steps to Pomfrey's tower.

"Even if it involved permanent brain damage?" he asked.

"Most of those girls don't really have brains to begin with." I replied, smartly.

"Shut up, Bell." He replied, grinning. He placed me in a bed and I grimaced when my leg hit the mattress. Madame Pomfrey was out of her office before Oliver had a chance to ring the bell.

"Kathleen Bell, what did you do now?" she asked, crisply.

"She was knocked unconscious by a bludger during practice." Oliver answered for me, "And came down pretty hard on her leg."

Pomfrey tutted. "This does not look good. It would definitely require one of my stronger potions."

"Well, I'll take it, we have a big game against Ravenclaw soon and I need to be in top form." I said, eagerly.

"There's a problem, though." Pomfrey said, slowly, watching Oliver. "The potion makes its recipient very tired, and since Kathleen is suffering from her sixth concussion we can take no chances with putting her to sleep. She'll just have to recover the muggle way."

* * *

"You have to spend the next four weeks in a cast!" Alicia exclaimed. "How barbaric." 

"You're telling me." I groaned. "Muggles always look so graceful and cool on the tele with crutches but, bloody hell, these things hurt your arms." I had just finished telling Angelina and Alicia what Pomfrey had said and they were admiring my cast like good friends should.

"Quidditch?" Angelina asked, cautiously.

"I'm out until my leg heals. No practice, no games, nothing…" I sighed. I had been trying not to think about this fact. "I'm going to have a lot of free time on my hands."


	3. Studying

Chapter Three:

Okay, the past couple of days have fuckin' sucked. Sunday wasn't too bad because everyone in the Gryffindor common room felt bad and would get me whatever I needed if I asked. Actually, Sunday was quite nice and I was dreaming that the rest of my time on crutches would be met with such exceptional servants. Not quite…

On Monday I woke up at my normal time, not realizing that it would take longer to get dressed and hobble down twenty flights of stairs. I was late for breakfast. I was late for Potions. I was late for Divination. I was late for lunch. In short, I was late for everything.

Feeling quite depressed, I decided to show my support for the team and go to practice, even though I couldn't participate. I was shuffling to the pitch when I lost my footing and fell, almost breaking my other leg. Oliver forbade me from coming to practice or doing anything else that could hurt my leg even more and forced Fred and George to escort me back to the common room. I spent the rest of the night alone, reading depressing poetry and feeling sorry for myself.

Tuesday hadn't started out much better. "How can anyone gain weight in this fuckin' place?" I cried. "It's nothing but steps!"

Angelina and Alicia exchanged glances. "It is pretty bad luck that our common room is on one of the top floors." Alicia said, sympathetically.

"Look at the bright side: classes are done for the day _and_ Ty Davis offered to carry your books for you." Angelina added.

I smiled slightly. Ty had offered to carry my books for me, since my arms were tied up with the damn crutches. There was a silver lining on this cloud. We were headed back to the common room so the girls could grab their gear for Quidditch and I could… well, do nothing.

"Hey guys," I said, suddenly. "I think I'm going to head to the library. It doesn't pay for me to sit in the common room all night alone and I can do some research for my Advanced Transfiguration paper."

The other two waved good-bye as I turned around to head back downstairs. Alicia and I weren't talking about the whole Cedric situation and things were surprisingly unawkward between us. We still talked about everything else, and Alicia loved teasing me about Ty. Hey, it's not my fault I've had a totally unrealistic crush on him since the first time I had seen him, two months ago.

"Hey Kate." I heard a voice behind me and spun around, forgetting about my crutches and bum leg.

"Shit!" I cried, as I felt myself beginning to fall. I fell on my butt, feeling like a total idiot when I looked up and saw Cedric standing above me. He gave me warm smile and offered his hand, "Hey Cedric." I said, as coolly as I could, under the circumstances. Man, he has strong hands.

"Where you headed?" He asked, once I was on my feet again.

"I was going to the library, to work on some homework." I pulled a face. How crappy of a night was this going to be?

"Sound like fun." Cedric replied, sarcastically.

"Especially considering I have no idea what McGonagall was talking about last class?" I groaned.

"How can you not get that stuff?" Cedric asked, dumbfounded. "It's pretty easy, once you break it down."

"Well, then, would you like to help me with it?" I asked, feeling a bit snappy.

"Sure." Cedric replied, easily. "All my stuff's in my dorm, you want to come to the Hufflepuff common room?"

"Does it involve stairs?" I asked.

"Less than going all the way to the library."

"I'm in." I said, waiting for him to lead the way. And that's how I ended up sitting on Cedric Diggory's bed studying Transfiguration.

"So where are all of your friends?" Cedric asked, finally looking up from his work.

I had finished fifteen minutes earlier and had been pretending to work so I wouldn't seem like a total slacker. Relieved, I answered, "Quidditch practice, every Tuesday and Thursday night. Meaning, I'm going to be alone every Tuesday and Thursday night until my leg gets better." Would he pick up the hint? I wondered

"Really? Well, I don't have anything going on those nights. We could work on homework together." Cedric replied.

"Sounds like a plan." I said, smiling. I glanced up at the clock. "Wow, it's nine already. I better head back up to my common room, since it'll take me a half hour to get there."

"You want me to walk you?" Cedric asked, standing up.

"No thanks. I'll be fine." Truthfully I would love to spend more time with him but I needed to think for awhile.

"Okay." He said, looking disappointed. "'Night Kate."

"Night Cedric." I replied smiling as he closed the door behind me.

* * *

"Where have you been?" Alicia cried, when I entered our dorm a half an hour later. 

"Studying." I replied. This was true. I had been studying; she just didn't need to know who with. Alicia cast me a confused look, knowing that I had never been one to study diligently. "What?" I asked, defensively.

"Nothing." She finally replied. "Your mum will be glad to know that you're finally taking school seriously."

I crawled into bed to avoid any further questioning and pulled the curtains tight around my bed. I heard Alicia say something about going to talk to Oliver and Angelina replied that she was going to turn in early too. Soon, I was fast asleep.

* * *

"I think I finally have a system down." I said to Angelina as we headed to breakfast the next morning. 

"Today was definitely better than Monday." She agreed. Alicia had left for breakfast early, so Angelina, Oliver and I were walking down together.

"So Oliver," I began, "Where's Cindy? Or Mindy? Or whatever her name is?"

"Sasha." Oliver corrected. "We broke up yesterday. She said something about my refusal to commit, which is complete bull shit in my opinion."

Angelina and I looked at each other, doubtfully. In all the time we had known Oliver he had only been able to commit to one girl, Alicia. And even those two had dated on and off for over two years.

"Sure, Oliver…" Angelina said, trying not to smile.

"Shut up." He scowled, hitting her arm.

I stifled laughter as we arrived at the Great Hall. I tired not to look at the Hufflepuff table but couldn't help myself. I noticed Cedric watching me and he gave me a nonchalant nod. I was still smiling when we sat down.

"What's up with you?" Alicia asked, suspiciously. My friends were always suspicious when I was in a good mood early in the morning.

"Oliver's back on the market." I said, putting my arm around his muscular shoulders. "I've been waiting for this moment for two months."

Alicia and Angelina laughed but Oliver refused to smile. Okay, he can't be this grumpy all day, or practice will be hell tomorrow, which means that Alicia and Angelina will be uber grumpy.

"Come on, Oliver." I whispered in his ear. "Now we can stop hiding our affair and just bring everything out in the open." I let my hand fall off of his should and trailed it down his back, finally slipping it around his waist. Merlin, he has nice abs! "You know you've liked me for awhile now."

Oliver looked at me; his hazel eyes a dark brown. "Katie?" He asked his voice catching.

"Oliver." I replied, seductively. I let my fingers reach across his torso so they were in the middle of his stomach. Perfect. Oliver was looking at me quite intensely and I could tell that Alicia and Angelina were about to burst with laughter. Shit, they knew exactly what I was planning and wouldn't be able to hold their laughter much longer. Time to unleash my secret weapon…

I started tickling Oliver mercilessly. His stomach had always been his most ticklish spot and he was laughing harder than I had ever seen him before. "Promise to be in a better mood?" I asked.

"Promise!" he cried, and I stopped my juvenile torture. I watched as Oliver regained his breath, Alicia and Angelina howling with laughter. "Damn, Kate. Don't tease me like that." He said, finally. "I was getting excited."

I slapped his shoulder and caught Cedric's eye.

He didn't smile back.


End file.
